In the amount of property damage in fires, this year surpassed the previous one by the difference of class. It was a fire of electrical wiring in OC Palladium (40 million CZK), fire of Autosalon Exner (70 million CZK), market SAPA (200 million CZK) and especially the fire of the left wing of the Industrial Palace with damage estimated at 1 billion CZK. Of course, the damage is listed in prices at the time.

On October 16th, just after 7 p.m. one of the biggest fires of recent times occurred in Prague. The Industrial Palace at Prague’s Holešovice Exhibition Grounds caught fire, where all professional and volunteer units from all over Prague were gradually dispatched.

Already at the time of the arrival of the first units, the entire left wing of the palace was ablaze, and because of its construction it was obvious that there was no point in trying to save it. From the first moment it was therefore decided that all forces and resources would be deployed at the interface of the left wing and the central part of the Industrial Palace to separate the burning and non-burning part.

It was later determined by an expert committee that the fire originated from a stove that was in the galley of the exhibition stand, where flammable items stored on it caught fire. After the fire started, it quickly spread to other stalls and the wooden structure of the ceiling of the left wing of the palace.

Thanks to a well-chosen tactic of intervention, great dedication and exemplary courage of the intervening members, and partly due to favourable circumstances, it was possible to save the central part of the Industrial Palace and its entire right wing, the historical value of which is incalculable.